On a display unit of an active matrix-type liquid-crystal display device, a plurality of pixel formation portions are formed in a matrix. In each of the pixel formation portions, there are provided: a thin film transistor (hereinafter, referred to as a “TFT”) that operates as a switching element; and a pixel capacitance connected to a data signal line through the TFT. By switching on/off this TFT, a data signal for displaying an image is written as a data voltage into the pixel capacitance in the pixel formation portion. This data voltage is applied to a liquid crystal layer of the pixel formation portion, and changes an orientation direction of liquid crystal molecules to a direction corresponding to a voltage value of the data signal. As described above, the liquid-crystal display device controls a transmittance of the liquid crystal layer of each pixel formation portion, and thereby displays an image on the display unit.
In a case where the liquid-crystal display device as described above is used in a portable electronic instrument or the like, a reduction of power consumption thereof has been heretofore required. Accordingly, there is proposed a method for driving a display device, in which a pause period (also referred to as a “non-refresh period”) of turning all of gate lines as scanning signal lines of the liquid-crystal display device to a non-scanning state to pause refreshing of a display image after a scanning period (also referred to as a “refresh period”) of performing the refreshing by scanning the gate lines (for example, refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-312253). In this pause period, for example, controlling signals and the like can be prevented from being given to a gate driver as a scanning signal line drive circuit and/or a source driver as a data signal line drive circuit. In such a way, operations of the gate driver and/or the source driver can be paused, and accordingly, the power consumption can be reduced. As in such a driving method described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-312253, the drive performed by providing the pause period after the refresh period is referred to, for example, as “pause drive”. Note that this pause drive is also referred to as “low frequency drive” or “intermittent drive”. The pause drive as described above is suitable for still image display.